(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to antennas of motor vehicles and more particularly to automotive antenna devices of a type fixed to an interior part of the vehicle.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In some of the latest motor vehicles, a so-called "keyless entry system" is employed which can lock and unlock the doors with usage of a wireless remote controller. In such system, an antenna is mounted to the vehicle for receiving the instruction radio wave signal from the remote controller. Usually, the antennas are of a type which is attached to an interior part of the vehicle. One of such antennas is an antenna which is printed on a rear window pane of the vehicle by using a printing process. However, for production of such type antenna, to protect the antenna, an additional printing process is further needed for covering the printed antenna with a carbon layer or the like, which inevitably causes increase in production cost of the vehicle. The other one of such antennas is an antenna device disclosed in Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication 7-58535. In this case, the antenna device is incorporated with a pillar garnish of a vehicle. That is, the antenna proper is intimately interposed between a pillar of the vehicle and an ornamental plastic plate fixed to the pillar. However, also this type of automotive antenna device has drawbacks. That is, the production process of the device is complicated and thus the cost of the same increases. Furthermore, the pillar having the antenna connected thereto becomes bulky in construction.